"It was a pretty weird dynamic and I've never been in anything like that," Roddick said.

Roddick was two points from overcoming a temper tantrum following a questionable line call before two second-set rain delays totaling 91 minutes suspended play Tuesday night, leaving th reigning U.S. Open Champion with a 6-3, 6-5 lead.

Th two took center court and had an abbreviated 10-minute warm-up under warm and sunny skies. Whn play resumed, van Lottum netted a drop volley and pushd a cross backhand in th same spot in a 35-second span.

"It's a very tricky situation, especially coming out," said Roddick, who waited approximately 15 hours before putting th final nails in th coffin. "At 6-5, 30-0, th first point is insanely crucial. You lose it you're down, 30-40. I could've been in a breaker in 30 seconds or off court in 10 seconds."

While Roddick was completing his first-round match, fellow Americans Robby Ginepri and Vince Spadea moved into th quarterfinals following second-round victories.

"It's always good to come back from two match points down and get th win, even if I didn't play my best tennis," Ginepri said. "He was so tough, I didn't know what to do out thre but keep trying harder and harder."

Moody hld a pair of match points on serve in th second set but Ginepri erased both, broke back and took th eventual tiebreaker. He snapped a third-set tie with a break in th ninth game before serving out th match at love.

Playing hre for th first time, Roddick went berserk over a changed line call in th second set that cost him a game. Chair umpire Enric Molina of Spain overruled a call by a lineswoman, giving van Lottum a 2-0 lead in th second set.

"It should have been at least a replay of th point," Roddick said. "It was almost two against me in one shot and it gave him th break."

Roddick called for ATP supervisor Gayle Bradshaw and pleaded his case for several minutes before Bradshaw refused to overrule th judgment call.

"Gayle was in a tough situation because h was off watching anothr court and didn't see it happen," Roddick said. "It puts Gayle in a really tough spot. If I had to regret one part of th outburst, it was probably on Gayle because h was th man stuck in th middle."

Roddick received a delay warning from Molina, thn shattered his racket, resulting in a racket abuse call and penalty point.

"Th question I kept asking (Molina) was, 'OK, if th ball was in, do you really think I wouldn't have swung at it and let it go past me on break point?'" Roddick explained. "He kept saying, 'It's over now.'" Roddick added that h thought th delay warning was uncalled for by Molina.

"He has to go one up on me by giving me a delay of game," Roddick said. "If I'm going to get one, I'm going to deserve it at least, and get some satisfaction out of it. " Rain delays interrupted th momentum of van Lottum, who squandered leads of 3-0 and 5-2 in th set.

Susan, you know I had to post that, it was funny because I saw about 3 pics with the caption below starting with "Roddick yells at...". There were also 3 articles citing Roddick's tantrum. There hasn't been much Roddick bashing on the boards lately.

I would have hoped that after reaching number one in the world, and winning the US Open, and having a spectacular summer that Andy would have mellowed out on these babyish tantrums, but I guess not. He's still being such a brat on the court.

I mean okay, so he disputes the line, that's fine. It's when he rudely argues with the umpire that makes him look like a spoiled brat. I don't see the umpire speaking to him as rudely as he is yelling at the umpire now. To add to that, he calles the ATP Supervisor, doesn't get his way, then smashed his racket. Yah that's a great role model there.

Cmon man, you're one of the top, top players, show some decorum. I was really hoping after what he acheived last year he would grow out of this phase. Do you guys think that it's because since the US Open, his results have not been very good?

Of course, I knew you had to post it; it was just too funny not to post it. I just was surprised at the delay. And the article without the "e" was kind of funny, too.

And you are right, Alan. The Board has been very neutral on Roddick for the most part. So I was just having a bit of fun there.

Oh, I just saw backhander's comments. I suspect Andy is feeling pressure of being the former No. 1 and being the chased instead of the hunter. His results haven't been that bad; he did win San Jose. But he's had some disappointments, although if he doesn't make it to Houston this year, I will be surprised.

These guys are all competitors, and they have different ways of dealing with their competitiveness. They get frustrated, and don't always deal with it the best way they could. Andy isn't the only one who does that. But I don't think we should emphasize the negative at the expensive of the positive. I could post an article about what Andy recently did for a 2-year-old patient at St. Jude's hospital that would totally warm your hearts. I won't do it, but I could.

Just remember that role models are human. And at least Andy isn't charged with some criminal conduct, as some of our sports "role models" in the United States are facing. I think he does his best, but his competitiveness on court gets the best of him at times -- which likely is why where he is on today's Tour.

I know Andy does awesome stuff as far as charitable stuff outside of the court, and that is totally great, and I applaud him for that. And I know there are some others that have tantrums too, I'm not making excuses for them at all. I hate it when players do that.

Susan, I think you are kind of biased when it comes to Andy though, as is anyone else when they are a fan of somebody. I think maybe cause I'm not a Roddick fan, that makes it easier for me to be critical of him. But honestly, I used to like the guy till I couldn't take any more of his tantrums.

I know others do it, but I consistently see Roddick do it, and for someone who acts great off the court, it's makes it even more annoying to see him act as a brat on the court. Like I said, every tantrum that I do see from him, he acts so disrespectful to the person he engaging with.

I think after winning the US though, his performance has been pretty bad for a #1 player. I know he won San Jose, but that's been it I think, not exactly something you'd expect from a #1 contender and reigning US Open Champ.

Do you guys think this is because of his off court distractions (That reality show thing) and the fact that he is feeling even more pressure since winning the US Open.

Backhander, that's fine. I'm so used to Andy critics, I'm surprised when someone comes out in support of him. In fact, I'm pleasantly surprised when someone says something nice about him here. Almost shocked in fact.

I don't think I'm too biased re Andy, though. Perhaps a year or so ago I was, but now I have a Nadal site, and I just kind of watch all things ATP related. [Now, I am biased re Nadal, no question. ]

But I think Andy is a great guy. Like all of us, he has his less-than-stellar moments, but he more than makes up for them. And I hope he continues to do well on the Tour. He has worked hard for what he has accomplished, and he's good for U.S. tennis, in my view. He certainly hasn't hurt things any. At least he's helping to keep the ATP on the US tennis radar screen. And that in itself is worth something.

And one final word to Slicereni -- just think Andre Agassi, and what he did after he revealed his bald spot.

I honestly though he had improved. I'm just glad I didn't have to witness this on tv this round. I think this is one of the reasons I just can't enjoy watching him. Yelling and shouting at Umpire for 5 minutes over 1 bad call in a minor tournament indeed is extremely "dramatic" and totally immature. Waste of everybody's time for nothing.

For god's sake, grow up and learn to show some respects to others at least on the court as well.

Yeah, Andy is the only player in the history of the ATP tour that has thrown a temper tantrum. Agassi would never do such a thing. Goran or Safin, they've never even thought about breaking a racket in anger. Hewitt ? A perfect gentleman at all times....

No one has mentioned WHAT happened to make Andy so made. For what it's worth, I agreed with Andy and felt he was due a replay. It happened during a long-ish rally. Andy was at the baseline prepared to hit a forehand. The ball hit near the line and an "out" call was made. Andy was behind the ball racquet back READY TO HIT when he stopped because of the call. Immediately the chair called good and awarded the game to van Lottum. This was for a 2-0 lead in the second. He could have easily made the play. He stopped when he heard the call. Since he was in a position to play. Shouldn't that have been a replay?

Over-rules are not just reserved for Roddick other players get them as well. It funny to me how Nalbandian was dissed for complaining about his bad line calls against Roddick @ USO 2003 but now the dissers support Roddick for complaining!

Hmmm...I haven't been on the boards lately and had no idea there was so much Roddick bashing. For the record, I'm neither a Roddick fan nor a hater. He's not the first pro out there to throw a tantrum and certainly nowhere near the worst, and not even the worst American we've seen--Connors and McEnroe easily come to mind. Even Agassi in his younger days could be a holy terror. I'm sure the guy will mellow out as he gets older/more mature. Just think about the kind of stuff that used to set you off at this age--then compare it to what these guys are going through, with the media spotlight on them and everything.

As for Sampras...I'm sorry, but I had a personal encounter with him when I was a kid that will always color my impression of him. To me, no matter how many Slams he's won, Sampras is a guy with no class at all.

I agree he should have gotten a replay of the point. It's one thing if it was an unreturnable serve but it sounds like he was about to hit the ball and stopped playing because the linesman called it out.

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